The impact of environmental hazards can be extremely significant. For example, the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in Prince William Sound resulted in over two billion dollars in clean-up costs and incalculable harm to wildlife. More recently, the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in more than 37 billion dollars of losses. Note that oil spills are not the only type of environmental hazard that can cause significant damage. For example, millions of acres of forest and a large number of homes are lost each year to wild fires in the United States.
Once an environmental hazard occurs, it may be important to contain the hazard in order to limit the impact on the environment. For example, if an oil spill can be contained within a particular area, damage to other areas may be reduced or avoided. It would therefore be desirable to provide systems and methods to facilitate the containment of environmental hazards in an automated, efficient, and accurate manner.